feel sick

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pinkie9

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If someone says '(But) I don't even feel sick.' after he is diagnosed with a disease, does it mean he doesn't even have nausea? Or, could it mean he doesn't even feel he has a disease?
 

tedtmc

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He probably felt normal and didn't feel any symptom or discomfort of having a disease.

not a teacher
 

emsr2d2

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If someone says '(But) I don't even feel sick.' after he is diagnosed with a disease, does it mean he doesn't even have nausea? Or, could it mean he doesn't even feel he has a disease?

In BrE, that would be "But I don't even feel ill". In BrE, "to feel sick" does mean to be experiencing nausea.

If a doctor asked me "Do you feel sick?" I would only be answering "Do you feel nauseous?" If the doctor said "Do you feel ill?" I would answer with any symptoms I was currently experiencing.

I think "sick" meaning "ill" is more AmE, but it's certainly used a lot here too these days. It should be pointed out that it has been used in one particular instance for years in the UK at least, when someone has not come into school or work because they are ill. We say "He's off sick", not "He's off ill", or "He's taken a sick day", not "He's taken an ill day".
For info, a slang term in BrE when someone phones work to say that they are ill when they're not (they just want the day off) is "to throw a sickie"!
 

Raymott

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In BrE, that would be "But I don't even feel ill". In BrE, "to feel sick" does mean to be experiencing nausea.

If a doctor asked me "Do you feel sick?" I would only be answering "Do you feel nauseous?" If the doctor said "Do you feel ill?" I would answer with any symptoms I was currently experiencing.
The meaning is different in Australia. "Do you feel sick?" covers any symptoms at all.
It's also true that "feel sick" can mean nausea, but that restricted usage is waning with the greater sophistication of patients.

I do wish people would say they feel "nauseated", and not "nauseous" though.
http://phrogz.net/nauseous
 

pinkie9

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Thank you all. :)

I forgot to write this guy is American.
So, it doesn't mean nausea, does it?
 

emsr2d2

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Thank you all. :)

I forgot to write this guy is American.
So, it doesn't mean nausea, does it?

No. As we said, in AmE "Do you feel sick?" just means "Do you feel ill?" or "Are you experiencing any symptoms of illness?"
 

5jj

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I do wish people would say they feel "nauseated", and not "nauseous" though.
http://phrogz.net/nauseous
You may be right as far as the medical world is concerned, but for the rest of us, nauseous means
1. afflicted with nausea, sick
2. causing nausea, offensive to the taste or smell
disgusting; loatsome.

Concise Oxford Dictionary.

All the native speakers that I have discussed this with feel nauseous if they feel sick (perhaps because of something they have eaten), and nauseated if they hear of, see, smell etc something that is revolting.
 
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